Package for plates

ABSTRACT

A package for storing and transporting rectangular glass plates such as high resolution photographic plates for use in the manufacturing of masks for integrated circuits. The plates are immobilized in the package by resilient contact with at least two elongated resilient tubes engaging corresponding corners of the plates and being yieldingly compressed between the plate corners and the container.

United States Patent 1191 1111 3,792,771

Bonjean 1 Feb. 19, 1974 [54] PACKAGE FOR PLATES 3,294,223 12/1966 Golian 206/46 FR [75] Inventor: Francois Auguste Bonjean, Edegem, FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS Belglum 1,199,688 8 1965 Germany 206/62 R Assignee: AGFA-Gevaert, N.V., Mol'tsel, Bel ium g Modern Plastics Encyclopedia for 1964 page 236, 1 Flledi 23, 1971 N.Y., Plastics Catalogue Cor 1963. T? 986 A2M5 21 Appl. No.2 174,040

Primary ExaminerLeonard Summer [30] Forelgn Application Pnonty Data Attorney, Agent, or Firm-William J. Daniel Aug, 24, 1970 Great Britain 40,671/70 52 s. 01.1., ..260/455, 2 2 9 l )19. 1 [571 ABSTRACT [51] Int. Cl 865d 85/48 A package for storing and transporting rectangular {58] Field of Search 206/62 R, 46 FR; 217/53 glass plates such 1 as high resolution photographic plates for use in the manufacturing of masks for inte- [56] References Cited grated circuits. v

UNITED STATES PATENTS The plates are immobilized in the package by resilient 3,400,809 9/1968 Puente 206 62 R nta t with at least two elongated resilient tubes 2,674,433 4/1954 Mautner 206/46 FR X engaging corresponding corners of the plates and 3,344,916 10/1967 Brueckner.. 206/62 R being yieldingly compressed between the plate corners Pestka and the container 3,273,779 9/1966 Mykleby 3,322,269 5/1967 Neyer 206/80 R 3 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures 10 77 i 73 g H.

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INVENTOR ATTORNEY PACKAGE FOR PLATES The present invention relates to a package for storing and transporting a plurality of rectangular plates.

A package for the storage and transportation of a plurality of fragile glass plates coated with photosensitive material is known wherein the plates are kept separated from each other by rib means or the like which are provided on opposed inner faces of a holder for such plates. The plates are movable to a limited extent between the ribs of the holder and, in order to protect the plates from glass shattering impacts, they are immobilized in the holder by means of a cushion member consisting of an elongate rectangular strip adhered to the inner face of the lid of the holder thereby to engage the top edges of the plates upon closing the holder A preferred material for the strip is flexible foamed resin material with open cell structure. In order to prevent the plates from contamination by dust of the foamed material, the cushion strip is provided with a protective skin, which may be another layer of foamed material with, however, a closed cell structure, or which may be an envelope ofa thin plastics foil, such as polyethylene.

The composite construction of the cushion member increases the cost price thereof and, moreover, it does not always successfully prevent the existence of plastics fragments and the like.

In the case of photographic plates with high resolving power, which are used in the manufacture of masks for integrated circuits, the presence of any dust particle at all on the photographic plate will bring about one or more integrated circuits with deviating characteristics. In order to not charge the user with cumbersome cleansing procedures and additional inspections, it. is thus necessary that the plates be offered as dustfree as possible.

Since the movement of the plates in their holder and the composition of the cushion member for immobilizing the plates are the main factors which are responsible for the production of dust, it is the object of the present invention to provide a package for storing and transporting plates, having an improved cushion member.

According to the present invention a package for storing and transporting a plurality of rectangular plates comprises a plate carrier member provided with rib means for keeping the plates separated from each other in general parallel relationship, a lid which may be placed on top of the plate carrier member, and at least one cushion member formed by at least one profiled elongate resilient member which extends generally normal to the planes of the plates, and which member is disposed to contact a portion of at least one of the edges of the plates.

In the present specification the term profiled elongate resilient member points to tubular parts with a circular or oval cross section, but it includes also bars with an U, L or other profile, at least one leg of which offers sufficient resilience to permit the firm immobilization of a plurality of plates which are substantially equal in size.

The term plate carrier member" points to a holder open at the top side through which plates may be introduced and removed therefrom. The plate carrier member may be rectangular, the main planes of the plates being normal to the main axis of the member, but the plate carrier member may also be circular and in that case the main planes of the plates may pass through the axis of the member. In the latter case the adjacent plates are not parallel to each other but run at an angle which depends on the number of plate positions which are provided over the circumference of the member, and the term general parallel relationship should be construed sufficiently broad to include the position of the plates in such circular package.

Preferred embodiments of the invention are as follows.

The cushion member is disposed to contact the plates at one angular point.

The cushion member consists of at least two tubular parts which are connected to each other in parallel and separated relationship by a common wing part.

The cushion member is secured to the lid by pressing the wing part or the tubular parts over point-like projections provided on the innerside of the lid.

The invention will be described hereinafter by way of example with reference to the accompanying figures wherein FIG. 1 is a side elevation, partly in section, of a package according to the invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-section on line 2-2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a detail of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a second embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 5 is a third embodiment of the invention.

In FIGS. 1 and 2 there is shown a container 10 for photographic plates 11 which comprises a lower part 12, called hereinafter holder, and a telescoping lid 13 which may fit light-tightly together. The holder of the container is arranged as a plate carrier member, and for that purpose the inner faces of the longitudinal walls 14 and 15 of the holder are provided with vertical ribs 16, only five of which have been shown in the sectional part of FIG. 1. The spacing between the ribs is slightly greater than the thickness of the plates so that the plates may be readily introduced into and removed from the holder. The plates are prevented from rattling between the ribs by the cushion means according to the present invention, which comprise tubes l7, 18, 1.9 and 20 which are disposed in the corners formed by the elongate walls of the holder and the lid, and which extend from one end wall of the holder, respectively the lid, to the other. The tubes may be high-density polyethylene tubes, having a wall thickness which permits a ready deformation of the tubes by contact with the corners of the plates 11 as is shown by the detailed view according to FIG. 3.

The tubes may be maintained in place in that their length is slightly greater than the corresponding inner dimension of the holder or the lid, so that they remain simply clamped between the end walls. Alternatively, the inner faces of the end walls may be provided with small studs or the like, such as the studs 21 and 22 on the end walls 23 and 24, over which may fit the extremities of the cushion tubes, or the inner faces of the end walls may have shallow cavities into which fit the extremities of the cushion tubes.

In FIG. 4 there is shown another embodiment of the invention according to which the cushion tubes are in contact with a portion of the lower and the upper edges of the plates. The bottom wall of the holder has a slightly elevated central portion 26, and resilient plastic tubes 27 and 28 are disposed at either side of said portion. The tubes have an oval cross-section and no means are provided for securing them to the holder. A

tube 29 is secured to the lid by means of some pointlike studs 30, which are provided at the innerside of the lid on intervals spaced according to the longitudinal direction of the lid, and which penetrate through the upper portion of the wall of the tube 29. The studs 30 may be provided in the lid in a separate operation, but in an economic way they may be formed by the runners or part thereof resulting from the injection molding of the lid.

Still another embodiment of the invention is illustrated in FIG. 5. In said figure a package has been shown wherein the plates are resting with their lower edges on a U-profiled resilient member 31 which is adhered to the bottom of the holder, whereas the plates engage with their upper edges a cushion member formed by two tubular parts 32 and 33 connected by a common wing part 34, which is secured to the lid by means of small studs, such as the stud 35 shown, in a way similar to the arrangement according to FIG. 4. The legs of the U-shaped member 31 have a crosssection which is slightly smaller than that of the central portion, and the legs also slightly diverge from each other thereby to offer an efficient resilient supporting of the plates 11. I

The cushion members are preferably made by extrusion and they may consist of any plastics material which is sufficiently resilient and also chemically inert with respect to the light-sensitive emulsion of the plates. Besides high-density polyethylene already referred to hereinbefore, other moderate cost plastics material, such as weak polyvinylchloride, polypropylene and others may be used for the manufacturing of the cushion members.

The cushion members, such as the U-shaped member 31, may also be formed by co-extrusion of a soft and a relative hard polymer. Thus, in using two extruders and one combined die, a profiled supporting member may be made, the central portion of which is rather rigid whereas the legs are sufficiently flexible to readily yield upon contact with a plate.

It will be understood that the invention is not limited to the described embodiments. Thus, the package may include additional means for sealing it against influence of atmospheric conditions, and such means may be formed by a self-adhesive tape 37, as shown in FIG. 2, which is stuck over the joint between the lid and the holder.

The plate carrier member and the lower part of the container may be two separate members. Thus, thecontainer itself may be formed by a rectangular holder open at the topside and a telescope lid which may fit over said holder, whereas the plate carrier member may be a rectangular frame which has walls and ribs for supporting the plates in separated relationship. The plate supporting frame has a plurality of small openings in the walls, so that it may be used in the processing or cleaning of the plates. As a matter of fact, in one simple movement all the plates may be removed from the holder and, while remaining in the carrier, they may be immersed in a tank containing an agitated processing or cleansing liquid.

Finally, the plates contained in the package need not necessarily be unexposed photographic glass plates, but they may also be glass plates containing a developed photographic silver or dye image. Furthermore, the plates may also be individually providedwith protecting means, e.g., a plastic frame, and thus black and white or colour slides may also be stored and transported in a package according to the invention.

We claim:

1. A package for storing and transporting a plurality of rectangular plates comprising: a plate carrier container including a removable top cover therefor, said container receiving said plates with a predetermined peripheral clearance and having rib means for keeping the plates therein in spaced apart generally upstanding parallel relation, and cushioning means for said plates formed by at least two elongated resilient tubes extending generally normal to the planes of the plates and in contact with corresponding corners of said plates, each such tube having a continuous exterior surface and a diameter exceeding said predetermined peripheral clearance, whereby said tubes are yieldably compressed between the plate corners and said container and thus cushion said plates.

2. A package according to claim 1, wherein said resilient tubes are disposed to contact the plates at all four corners thereof.

3. A package as in claim 1 wherein said tubes are formed of high-density polyethylene. 

1. A package for storing and transporting a plurality of rectangular plates comprising: a plate carrier container including a removable top cover therefor, said container receiving said plates with a predetermined peripheral clearance and having rib means for keeping the plates therein in spaced apart generally upstanding parallel relation, and cushioning means for said plates formed by at least two elongated resilient tubes extending generally normal to the planes of the plates and in contact with corresponding corners of saId plates, each such tube having a continuous exterior surface and a diameter exceeding said predetermined peripheral clearance, whereby said tubes are yieldably compressed between the plate corners and said container and thus cushion said plates.
 2. A package according to claim 1, wherein said resilient tubes are disposed to contact the plates at all four corners thereof.
 3. A package as in claim 1 wherein said tubes are formed of high-density polyethylene. 